brrfandomcom-20200214-history
RF c03s02
Text Ardent Desire wasn't even aware of what was going on around him. He was just curled up under a blanket, and his sisters were looking after him and taking care of him, reassuring him that everything would be okay. All he was aware of was a faint rumbling and whispering, and his sisters were so focused on him that not even they cared what was going on. Outside, dark shadows whispered back and forth around the manse, as Cupidus stood on the front lawn and calmly watched. Helena had asked for his assistance, and while the devil thought that perhaps Ardent Desire's influence was getting even to the demon mare, he also understood her reasoning. If Ardent Desire died, it would reflect poorly on him, and everything he had promised: practicality demanded a small feat of power. And besides, Helena also noted there was an easy source of additional payment, right under their noses. Electricity crackled over the walls of the structure, as vibrations ran through the inside of the house: soon, the building was rising into the sky, towards a dark, rumbling cloud through which violet lightning was streaking back and forth, as rubble and pieces of sod floated silently up in the reversal of gravity that had gripped the structure. Cupidus watched as gradually, the manse vanished into the cloud before there was a bright purple flash... and then everything was simply gone, the only sign the building had ever stood in this empty field the crater of dirt left behind. The devil glanced coldly back and forth, then nodded once to himself: he trusted that Helena would oversee the rest of the process. For now, he had assets to attend to, as his orange eyes meditatively roved over the dead and prone bodies of slave hoof servants and Pegasi that had been sacrificed by the Kelpies as payment, their bodies slain, their blood drained, their souls... taken. Cupidus thought it was a fair exchange, but to him, life and death were both matters of economic exchange, and the values of the living, their corpses, and even their very souls could be determined the same way he would a gemstone. The clarity, the cut, the rarity, the quality, and weight. Ardent Desire didn't understand what he had gotten into, though... any more than he understood what was happening as the house shook around him violently, and he looked wildly up as he clung to his sisters, shouting worriedly: "What's going on? Is... is Father attacking? No, no, I... no!" The rumbles increased for a moment, and Ardent Desire cried out in terror and misery and buried himself in the blankets as Radiant Beacon clung to him and Morning Glory leapt to her hooves... but a moment later, the tremors settled into a dull vibration, and Helena hurried into the room, saying soothingly: "Lord Desire, it's okay, it's okay! We were just finishing up moving the household... surely you remember what we talked about before, moving the house to a better place?" "I... I..." Ardent Desire poked his head nervously out from under the blanket, trembling a little, and then he nodded after a moment and sat up. Morning Glory relaxed a little when she saw her big brother looking naively across at Helena, and it was like his trust and his emotions were beginning to affect her: like more and more, she was reflecting him. "Yes, but... I didn't... think that... what about the servants?" "We had to let them go, darling. I told you before, we couldn't take them all with us... it would have been asking too much of Cupidus." Helena smiled,and Ardent Desire nodded hesitantly. "I'm glad you told me about him, Ardent Desire, and that you have such a generous, powerful ally. And I'm sure if you asked... he would be glad to help you get over the pain of your father..." "I... that's... not important right now." Ardent Desire shifted, feeling suddenly uncomfortable as he breathed unevenly, then shook his head hurriedly. "So... so where are we then? How... how did you move this place?" "Oh, I didn't do it. Cupidus has many friends, though, who all... pitched in. Devils don't usually come to this world by themselves, but you created an opening... a way for Cupidus to travel back and forth, and he was able to bring a few... loyal followers through as well." Helena explained gently, and Ardent Desire nodded trustingly before the Kelpie looked back and forth, softening. "You should concentrate on feeling better for tonight, my darling. We will attend to the... minor details, and help everything settle." "No, no... I... I want to see where we are." Ardent Desire said after a moment, shaking his head, and both his sisters stood as they looked curiously over at Helena. The Kelpie only smiled in response, nodding after a moment before she turned and gestured for them to follow. The group was silent as they made their way through the dim halls of the house: there were a few overturned furnishings, some paintings had fallen off the walls, and most of the lanterns and torches had gone out. But Ardent Desire thought all-in-all, there was very little to show that an entire household had just been magically moved... well... quite a distance, he was somehow sure. They exited through the main doors – a hinge had snapped on one and left the door listing awkwardly, but that was the worst damage they had seen so far – and Ardent Desire's eyes widened in surprise as he strode into soft, tall grasses. The moon and stars shone down from above, lighting up their surroundings, and after a moment, Morning Glory whispered: "Wait, I recognize this place... from... from the paintings in the library..." "That's... the ocean!" Ardent Desire almost shouted, stumbling forwards and staring with awe: past a dirt road and several small shacks still lit up with light in the far distance, he could see the sparkling, endless reaches of water he had always dreamed of seeing. He laughed in delight, all his cares and worries leaving him for a moment... and both his sisters soon joined his laughter, smiling just as brightly as they felt and mirrored his joy. "Look, look, the ocean!" He leapt up and down, then looked back and forth in delight: they were positioned high atop a slope, and the stallion took off at a run to do a quick circle of the house as Helena only smiled and sat calmly back. Ardent Desire ran around the structure, taking in everything that was nearby with wide, child-like eyes at the wonderment of it all: of being in a new, safe place, where he'd always dreamed of being, where there was not only an ocean across from his front door but a river that flowed past the side of his home and sprawling fields everywhere else. He grinned in amazement as he passed back to the front, and then his sisters tackled him from behind and knocked him sprawling, but it only increased his joy as he rolled over and gazed up at them, then hugged them fiercely as they lay piled together. "It's everything I ever dreamed of!" He looked happily up at the stars... and then, slowly, gradually, his smile faded, and both his siblings straightened and looked down at him with concern as he murmured after a moment: "I mean... almost... everything. It's almost everything..." He closed his eyes... but a moment later, a hoof brushed back his mane, and Helena said softly: "Now come. You are a strong, handsome stallion, with fortunes truly beyond measure. Nothing is out of your reach yet, not even what seems impossible." Ardent Desire glanced up at her quietly, and then he nodded slowly to the Kelpie before allowing her and Morning Glory to help him to his hooves. He looked back and forth, opened his mouth, then didn't quite know what to say before Morning Glory and Radiant Beacon both gently pushed him forwards, and Helena smiled kindly at the stallion. "I'll help you relax." Ardent Desire only nodded a little, then closed his eyes when she leaned forwards and kissed him, but he returned it slowly, feeling it... soothing him. And when she gently tugged on him, he gladly followed her to a quiet, private room, where she pulled him overtop her and he felt his body more naturally falling into the motions, pushing down, feeling their forms moving in tandem as he felt her clutching into him, pulling him down, wanting him, needing him, loving him... When it was over, they lay curled together until Ardent Desire fell asleep, and then the Kelpie slipped quietly away and headed out into the hall. She smiled dreamily to herself, then frowned before shaking her head hurriedly... but as she did so, she caught something in the corner of her eye. A movement... and the demon smiled knowingly to herself before she called gently: "Morning Glory, is that you?" There was silence... and then Morning Glory flushed as she stepped carefully around the corner, looking up nervously. But the demon only smiled at her before pushing the door behind her back open, saying tenderly: "Go ahead. He's asleep... but he always sleeps better with another body beside him." She paused as Morning Glory smiled and approached, and the Kelpie hesitated... then she thought of Cupidus and his orders, and she forced herself to be sly, to be cunning, and not to care for the handsome, tender stallion snoozing helplessly in bed as she leaned up and whispered in the mare's ear: "He loves you especially, you know." The mare froze, then frowned a little, and for a moment, she shivered: it made Helena wince, not exactly wanting to see what would happen if Morning Glory shook off the enchantment. The unicorn was not a pony to be underestimated or trifled with, not even by your average demon. But thankfully, a moment later Morning Glory settled and closed her eyes, and the Kelpie felt both relief and the faintest hint of guilt. After all... this was a mare who must have honestly cared about her sibling at one point, and now they were abusing that, warping that... "I... does he? I get so... angry... and jealous... and he is my brother, I... I..." "I think your mortal worries are silly. I think you should tell him, show him how much you care for him." Helena urged gently, and the mare looked at her curiously before Helena smiled kindly at her, even as she felt another twist go through her gut. "I will even help you. I will help him see your value, shall I?" "Oh... Helena, I owe you so much..." Morning Glory whispered, but Helena only smiled before turning away... and as the mare eagerly hurried into the bedroom, the Kelpie's smile faded and her eyes dimmed as they turned slowly down to the floor. Mortals... they were so easy to play with. So easy to confuse, and Ardent Desire was so... gullible. And with the way his influence worked, it made those close to him gullible too. Oh, yes, demons couldn't lie, and there were many good demons, and many of the stories Ardent Desire repeated to her were true... but he forgot that there were bad demons, too. That demons, good or bad, were often driven by their primal drives... and most important of all, that there was a difference between a demon and a devil. Or maybe he was just too naïve, too uninitiated, to have truly understood the difference yet. But one day, and one day all too soon, Ardent Desire would. Everything he was being given was free, but he had never listened to the careful phrasings of Cupidus: that he would only keep what he had earned. And so far, all Ardent Desire had truly earned himself was pain, and suffering, and heartache. The poor stallion didn't understand that he had just become a tool in a devil's plan to further expand his influence, and that he had created a loophole in the rules that usually bound Cupidus' kind to Helheim. Something Cupidus was gladly using to exploit and claim more victims, in the short window he knew he had. And none of it was because 'demons were evil,' or 'Hell was full of monsters,' even if the latter was all too true: it was because Cupidus saw a business opportunity, and that was what he was doing... business. Mortal souls were like shiny gemstones in Helheim, to be traded, sought after, and in rare cases to act as powerful tools in their own right. And to the Kelpie, who was driven by the primal drives of lust and hunger, that awful, sociopathic purpose made what Cupidus was doing all the more terrible to her. Not that Helena could or would stand up against the devil, of course: Cupidus was powerful, and knew what strings to pull, and precisely how to pluck them for the best effect. Helena was a wild demon, who lived with her brethren among nature, outside of Helheim. Safe from the ice... but not from other demons who thought that Kelpies made excellent slaves, delightful toys, or tasty meat. Helena lowered her head as she strode quietly into the kitchen, then glanced back and forth at her sisters, who were currently using the stove to cook some fish they had caught. She smiled at them, and they smiled back before one asked softly: "Sister, you can't be upset over the mortals still, can you? They're only mortals... most of them were slaves." "No, their lives do not bother me, my siblings. I'm thinking of the handsome stallion again... perhaps it's just his influence, but I've grown very attached to him. I don't like the idea of corrupting and twisting him and his entire family into something like us." Helena replied softly, and her sisters nodded sympathetically. They sat for a few moments as the fish steamed and fried, and then one of the demons turned towards the spice rack, and Helena cautioned: "Be wary, mortals use many purifiers as flavoring. Too much and we will grow ill." "We know, sister." said another one of the Kelpies tiredly, and Helena couldn't help but smile a bit before the same Kelpie softened and murmured: "You are too attached to things. A caretaker. You must distance yourself more, sister, for your own sake." "I... will try." Helena said finally, lowering her head and looking away... and yet all the same, she didn't think she would. She liked Ardent Desire, after all... and she thought what truly scared her wasn't the idea of hurting him, or even helping him on the way to becoming a demon... it was the thought that Ardent Desire would never forgive her for what she had to do. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story